ADEN (Reuters) – Hamas chief Yehya Sinwar has congratulated the Yemeni Houthi group for its missile attack on Israel and said this sent a message to their foe, the Houthi Al-Massirah TV reported on Monday.
The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control northern Yemen, reached central Israel with a missile on Sunday for the first time, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say Israel would inflict a “heavy price” on them.
“I congratulate you on your success in reaching the depth of the enemy entity,” Sinwar said in a letter to Houthi leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi.
Sinwar is leading Hamas in the war against Israel in the Gaza Strip, now in its 12th month.
The Hamas chief said that Israel’s plans to neutralize the militant group had failed.
“I assure you that the resistance is fine. We have prepared ourselves to fight a long battle of attrition,” he said.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said the group struck with a new hypersonic ballistic missile that travelled 2,040 km (1270 miles) in just 11-1/2 minutes.
An Israeli military official said the missile was hit by an interceptor and fragmented in the air. Missile pieces landed in fields and near a railway station. There were no direct casualties but nine people were lightly hurt while seeking cover.
(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari in Aden and Clauda Tanios and Nayera Abdallah in Dubai, Editing by Gareth Jones and Angus MacSwan)
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